Aftermath
by CootieCatcher7
Summary: Based on some of the teasers that Cassie has put out and this is my take on them. Its Jem and Tessa's wedding day and today just happens to be the day that everyone's been dreading. Will loses his parabati, Tessa loses her fiance, and yes, Cecily - sort of, you have to understand her appearance and how I want her and Jem to end up together, Charlotte and Henry all make appearances!
1. Jem in the Dark

This is a story that I've made based on all of the teasers from Clockwork Princess that Cassie has put out... well the ones that fit into my scenario. You can ask which ones they are, but I honestly don't remember at the moment so I apologize.

* * *

"And do you, James Carstairs, take Theresa Gray to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for as long as you both shall live?"  
"I-" Jem started coughing, blood staining his cufflink of his white jacket. "I-" coughs shook his whole body. The coughing then erupted from within his chest, blood coming with every heave.  
Tessa's eyes widened in horror she caught her fiance. She gently laid him down, her tears of joy turning to horror. Henry pushed through the crowd and started trying to help Jem. Tessa cradled his head in her lap, the gold ruining her dress.  
"It's going to be alright. Henry's got it under control," Tessa didn't know who she was trying to convince more-herself or Jem. Tessa was suddenly taken back to the warehouse, when she had then also held someone's head as they died.  
She came back from the memory to find that the coughing had stopped. Jem's slow breathing was a sign that he could still make it. "It's alright. It's alright," she began to murmur over and over again. She fell forward over his head, bringing her mouth next to his ear so he could hear her better. She was surprised to hear words coming from his lips.  
"No, it's not Tessa. Tessa, Tessa, Tessa. Why are you always so hopeful? This was inevitable. You know that."  
"Because without hope, I have nothing."  
Jem chuckled softly. "You are everything. Not just to me. I love you Theresa Gray."  
"I love you Jem Carstairs."  
Jem smiled and took a deep breath. His eyes shifted to something behind her. Then the silver that had been so full of life, dimmed to gray. The eyes that had saw so many things, saw nothing and Tessa felt his chest stop rising.  
She looked up at Henry and saw the hopelessness in his face. Desperately she looked at Will-who had forced himself through the crowd and knelt beside her-and saw the same desperate look in his blue eyes. Tears began to fall again.  
The next events happened in a blur. Consul Wayland and Henry picking up Jem and taking him out of the library. The few guests that were in attendance following them out. Charlotte coaxing her into her room and out of the borrowed dress. When Charlotte left Tessa went and sat at the window. She saw the men load Jem into a carriage going to the silent city. After it left and the guests left, Will slipped from the institute and walked to where he could forget.

Darkness. Peace. This is what he felt. He remembers the look on her face as he collapsed. The look on her face, the terror in her eyes. He knew. As he looked at her, dressed in all white, walking purposefully toward him, he wonders how he could have missed it. It's so obvious. It's there in the way her gray eyes flicked to the man that stood beside him, just for a second, before they had met he still felt a peace. He had been wandering the blackness for-well he didn't know how long. It could fave been seconds, days, years. When he walked he didn't need his cane, his hair was now the original color. Up ahead a light came into view. He squinted, trying to find the source. Walking toward it, it expanded until the darkness was completely gone.

Darkness. Pain. There was a wight bearing down on him. Fighting against it his lings filled with oxygen and he began to count every beat of his heart. He heard a door open and slow, somber steps, their clicks filling the empty silence. The steps approached him and the smell of flowers filled his nostrils. Inhaling, the sound of glass breaking on the ground rang in his ears. Pushing against the weight he opened his eyes and saw his angel-standing above him, joy reflected in her blue eyes.


	2. Awake

Tessa hadn't come out of her room since the wedding. For the past three days Sophie had been bringing her food to her, forcing her out of bed to get into clothes and letting her friend cry on her shoulder. Sophie knew that she would have to get over it soon, Master Will wasn't locking himself in his room declining every possible chance of food, he was going out in public, most likely to the pub, but it wasn't her place to judge. This morning she would get Miss Tessa out of her current hell.

She stood outside the door contemplating whether or not to knock or to just walk in. Depending on the day Tessa would answer it. Taking a deep breath she opened the door and walked in. Tessa was still lying on her bed. She couldn't see them yet, but Sophie knew that there were going to be brand new tear stains on her pillow.

"Time to get up miss."

"Sophie, every day you have come in here and said to me 'time to get up miss' and then every day I decline every offer you give me. Sophie I am not getting out of bed, I am not leaving this room, and I am not going to listen to you. You're just a maid, you don't know what it feels like to lose someone you love," Tessa gasped as what she said rang through her ears. "I'm so sorry Sophie. I- I'm just-" she looked at the other girl and could see the hurt on her face.

Sophie nodded her head and exited the room. Just walking out was worse than her slamming the door in a furious fury Tessa thought. She rolled over on her side and faced the wall. She had come to memorize the rough texture of the wall by her bed in the Institute.

Minutes passed, as far as Tessa knew it could've been hours, time didn't matter to her anymore, and a loud ruckus was raised in the halls of the building. This shook Tessa from her thoughts. Since the wedding everyone had been in hiding it seemed. This disturbance was enough to convince her to leave her bed.

She opened her door, looked in the direction that the noise had come from and, not seeing anything different, left her room to investigate. She could see a shadow under the door that lead to the infirmary of the Institute. She crept towards it and opened the door. There was Cecily, pacing back and forth. She'd knocked over the chairs that sat outside the door. When Tess entered the small waiting room Cecily stopped her pacing and looked up.

Tess could see very conflicting emotions in her eyes. There was grief, which was the normal look of the occupants in the hallowed building, but there was also confusion and a slight look of hope peeking through the stronger feelings. "Cecily, what's wrong?"

The simple question started the girl in her pacing again. "Jem."

That single syllable sent the other girl into the main infirmary in frantically. She went and gazed at the sleeping figure that had once been her fiancé. He was breathing, but his eyes were closed. Just like when he had been placed in the medical bed.

Cecily suddenly stood behind Tessa, she hadn't even heard her approach. "He's sleeping. He-he-he opened his eyes and when he saw me he had smiled and then closed his eyes again. He's sleeping now. After I had gotten a control of my body – it was in shock you know – I went to find anyone that would come. That's when I fell over the chairs and you came to find me. At that moment, I was wondering if that was what I had really seen. I was wondering if I should give everyone hope based on what could have been a hallucination of grief."

Tessa looked at Will's baby sister, and took her into her arms. "You're rambling, Cecily."

Cecily let out a small laugh that quickly became tears. Tess held the younger girl and tried to comfort her. She tried to keep her own tears in check as Cecily's shoulders shook.

"Please, don't cry on my account."

Both the girls sprang apart and looked at the body of the voice that had been too long missing. Jem smiled at them and started to sit up, but soon gave it up, his face twisted in agony. Tessa and Cecily quickly wiped the tears that had stained their faces.

They stared at Jem, a question forming on Tessa's lips, "How-how-how is this possible?"

Jem seemed to consider how to answer the question that he would have to answer many more times. "I followed my angel. Where is everyone else? Will, Charlotte, Henry? Have Charlotte and Henry had their little Buford? How long was I walking?"

The last question was said as an afterthought, that Tessa barely heard. She made a note to ask about it later. "I'll go get everyone," she walked out of the room then. Before she had fully left the room she looked over her shoulder to confirm what she could have been dreaming. When she glanced back she saw looks pass between Cecily and Jem that would also have to be confronted later also.


End file.
